Wireless local area networks (WLAN), and wireless wide area networks (WWAN), are becoming increasingly available in most metropolitan and some suburban areas. These wireless networks operate under a variety of standards, including IEEE 802.11 (including 802.11(a), (b) and (g), often referred to as “Wi-Fi”) and IEEE 802.16 (often referred to as “WiMax”). A user with a laptop and wireless connection can readily gain access the Internet or other networks via such hot spots.
A laptop must typically register with a WLAN or WWAN service provider, Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), or other service providers so as to gain desired network access. To do so, the user provides a user name and password which identifies the user. However, this information does not identify the wireless device accessing the network. Prior systems have used http clients or user agents to identify devices, such as by type of browser. These methods are not secure. Further, they may not positively identify the device connected to the network. For example, identifiers such as Media Access Control (MAC) addresses often have arbitrary (yet unique) values that cannot be readily looked up (e.g., in a database) due to a multitude of component sources and further, are readily changeable in most devices. Moreover, if multiple rate plans are associated with the user or device, these plans cannot be readily associated with the user or device without additional information, and if so, could be prone to being hacked or otherwise compromised by malicious activity. For example, the IP address of a particular device can be “spoofed.”
The above examples of some related systems and associated limitations are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of existing prior systems will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following Detailed Description. Overall, there is a need for a system that overcomes the above problems as well as provides additional benefits.